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| Bruce Everiss Ferrari Mondial T |
Everyone who knows me knows that I am a car nut and always have been. So obviously a Ferrari was always very aspirational, not for the posing value but for driving and appreciating the engineering. I have always been very mechanically sensitive with them, for instance warming them up gently and being careful with the clutch. But once they were fully warmed up I drove them very hard indeed, which is what they are designed for. I was stopped by the police many times in them but they never took any action.
My first Ferrari was a blue 308 GTS which had the optional suspension pack with 16 inch wheels and P7 tyres as well as a sports exhaust, so it was loud. With 247 dyno BHP it was not massively fast by today's standard. But back in the mid 1980s it was a level above most "normal" cars. It also had fabulous handling and responded perfectly to inputs with prodigious grip from those fat tyres and race bred suspension.
My second Ferrari was a white 512 Berlinetta Boxer. This was a different kettle of fish with a flat 12 engine and 360 BHP. 0 to 60 in 5 seconds and 0 to 100 in 12. I had the later wheels and tyres from the injection model fitted and then the speedo was calibrated to be spot on. Every day I got it to over 160mph, usually on the way to or from work, but if not I went out in the evening and did it. One day I red lined it in fifth gear which by maths is 180mph and that is what the speedo said. The handling was more than a bit interesting and I had the shock absorbers uprated to make it more controllable.
My third Ferrari was the green Mondial T you see above. This is a lot different to the earlier Mondials and from an engineering point of view it is mid way between a 348 and a 355, but with more gentle handling from the longer wheelbase. Being a more modern Ferrari it has fuel injection, power steering, anti lock brakes etc With 300BHP its performance was half way between that of its two predecessors and it was a very nice car to own.